Cascades of colour

The flowers today are full of colour, and were a welcome burst of colour as we turned one of the corners on the second day of our Portuguese walk earlier in the summer. I didn’t know what they were at the time, but have since identified them as a Lantana.

LANTANAS: TURNING YELLOW TO RED

The multi-coloured flower head is completely natural, they open yellow and mature to red. So the close up of the one above indicates it’s been flowering for a while, as there’s little yellow, much more of an orange. But it’s exquisite isn’t it?

Stepping back, the effect is stunning. Imagine facing that as you emerge from a cork forest, which was completely fascinating for other reasons, though obviously not as colourful.

Definitely a welcome burst of colour.

A Portuguese planter

This rustic, but full of bright flowering lilies and other plants, was spotted on our second trip to Portugal some five years ago. It’s the sort of photo that you don’t always remember, but when you see it you’re immediately transported back to where it was taken. So much so that I can tell you it was which village it was taken in, Odeceixe, and why we were there, to see the windmill, and that we also managed to find a great cake shop. Well, when in Portugal.

I thought I’d test my theory, and looked up the Windmills in Odeceixe post which I posted here in 2015. And sure enough, I knew I was right before I spotted it. And then I did, I’d shared this photo back then and forgotten all about it. That isn’t going to stop me sharing it again though. As you can see.

The fruit trees too are set off by the whitewashed walls, and you can feel the heat can’t you?

The trees aren’t technically flowers, but they must flower before they fruit so I’m counting them into this Flowers on Friday post. And who doesn’t need a lemon for their G&T on Friday?

The lighthouse at Belém

So when is a lighthouse, not a lighthouse? The answer it seems is when it’s the one at Belém. The red brick lighthouse was never actually used as an official working lighthouse. That doesn’t stop it being fascinating to look at, or photograph. The bluest skies helped too.

Belém is west of Lisbon on the Tagus river, and has many tourist attractions, we arrived by train but buses and trams also head out this way. Lisbon, and its transport system, is easy to navigate and cheap too, especially compared to travelling around London (sadly).

Belém was originally the location of Lisbon’s shipyards and docks and many of the 15th century voyages to India, East Africa and Brazil left from this area, and the first monument we saw - the Monument of the Discoveries - gives a very large nod to that too. But more on that another day.

I was fascinated with the brickwork. If you look closely you can see the bricks are laid horizontally, so they stick out (technical term) from the structure. The square windows too, are fascinating.

The other thing that struck me about the lighthouse? It’s size, it was tiny. If I remember I’ll remind you of that when I share more from a more modern monument in the same area. But for now, let’s just admire the brickwork.